MAXIM DE WINTER
AS SEEN IN:
"Rebecca"
CREATED BY:
Daphne du Maurier
PORTRAYED BY:
Jeremy Brett
TV STATUS:
Recastaway
TV DIMENSION:
The world of TV remakes
From Wikipedia:
While working as the companion to a rich American woman vacationing on the
French Riviera, the narrator becomes acquainted with a wealthy Englishman,
Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter, a 40-something widower. After a fortnight of
courtship, she agrees to marry him and, after the wedding and honeymoon,
accompanies him to his mansion, the beautiful West Country estate
Manderley.
[The] storm that had been building over the estate leads to a shipwreck. A diver investigating the condition of the wrecked ship's hull discovers the remains of Rebecca's boat.
The revelations from the shipwreck lead Maxim to confess the truth to our heroine; how his marriage to Rebecca was nothing but a sham; how from the very first days husband and wife loathed each other. Rebecca, Maxim reveals, was a cruel and selfish woman who manipulated everyone around her into believing her to be the perfect wife and a paragon of virtue. She repeatedly taunted Maxim with sordid tales of her numerous love affairs and suggested that she was pregnant with another man's child, which she would raise under the pretence that it was Maxim's and he would be powerless to stop her. Rebecca tries to convince Maxim to kill her, taunting him continuously. He, truly hating her, does in fact fatally shoot her. Worried that he might have to spend the rest of his life in jail, Maxim has disposed of her body on her boat, which he then has sunk at sea. Our heroine is relieved to hear he had never loved Rebecca, but really loves her.
[The] storm that had been building over the estate leads to a shipwreck. A diver investigating the condition of the wrecked ship's hull discovers the remains of Rebecca's boat.
The revelations from the shipwreck lead Maxim to confess the truth to our heroine; how his marriage to Rebecca was nothing but a sham; how from the very first days husband and wife loathed each other. Rebecca, Maxim reveals, was a cruel and selfish woman who manipulated everyone around her into believing her to be the perfect wife and a paragon of virtue. She repeatedly taunted Maxim with sordid tales of her numerous love affairs and suggested that she was pregnant with another man's child, which she would raise under the pretence that it was Maxim's and he would be powerless to stop her. Rebecca tries to convince Maxim to kill her, taunting him continuously. He, truly hating her, does in fact fatally shoot her. Worried that he might have to spend the rest of his life in jail, Maxim has disposed of her body on her boat, which he then has sunk at sea. Our heroine is relieved to hear he had never loved Rebecca, but really loves her.
"Rebecca" has been adapted for television both by the BBC and by Carlton Television. The 1980 BBC version starred Joanna David as the second Mrs. de Winter; it was broadcast in the United States on PBS as part of its 'Mystery!' series. The 1997 Carlton production starred Emilia Fox (Joanna David's daughter) in the same role, and was broadcast in the United States by PBS as part of its 'Masterpiece Theatre' series.
BCnU!
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